Here’s the text of a Party Political Broadcast delivered yesterday evening by the Leader of the Opposition Keith Azopardi:

We have had an eventful year. However shocking the Principal Auditor Report published in January 2024 was – with its examples of waste and abuse – Gibraltar was rocked by an even more serious Report in July this year. That laid bare that there was a real rot in this GSLP administration and a lack of willingness or ability to properly control the use of your money.

Beyond the examples of abuse and political patronage there were also some eye-watering sums. Millions of pounds spent in ex gratia payments or uncontrolled overtime; questionable housing allocations and a Chief Minister accused of acting unconstitutionally on the Savings Bank. The Report revealed that over £50 Million has been loaned intransparently. Despite repeated requests we still do not have answers on who has had the benefit of that enormous amount of money.

To distract from all this the GSLP Government brought an unprecedented Motion to Parliament trashing the previous Auditor – a respected career civil servant – who they had praised just weeks before they saw the Report. They used incredible language in the process accusing the Auditor of bias, poison or being inhumane. Compounding their excess they declared they would produce a rival report of the parts they don’t like. But the Auditor has exclusive competence under the Constitution to produce an audit of the Government’s finances. The GSLP Government don’t get to mark their own homework. What they want to do is just wrong.

This showed how out of control this GSLP Government is. And it is not about one person – the Chief Minister. Because when given the opportunity ALL Ministers supported him in this constitutional outrage. That is the reality that we are living in this closing down sale of the GSLP Government. Change will not come when they swap leaders. Because in the last days of Mr Picardo’s reign they are ALL endorsing the actions and collectively owning them.

And then there is the McGrail Inquiry. I finally received the Inquiry Report just a few hours ago. 46 days after the Government received it and 19 days after it was released to GBC and the Chronicle. They gave it to the press well in advance of your elected representatives because this is all about their political self-interest and minimising our opportunity to comment on the day of publication. We will have much more to say about this in days to come but it is already clear that this is a scandalous Report with very serious implications and which emphasises even further why this GSLP Government must go.

Radical change is needed of how Gibraltar is governed; how your money is used and how governments account to you. This will not be done by those who are the political architects of these excesses or who could do something about it now but don’t. This will only be possible when they are booted out of office.

Beyond those serious financial and democratic governance issues are the signs of a Government in paralysis kept in the black only by unplanned corporate tax revenue. That was the case this year when the Government avoided a big deficit. But that bumper tax take may not be there next year or in years to come following the gaming tax changes in the UK.

The painfully slow delivery of commitments is best seen in the field of housing where time and again the Government repeat announcements on developments promised many years ago. The most recent statement has been complete with posed pictures of a hard-hat wearing Chief Minister. Finally, it looks like Bob Peliza Mews and Chatham Views will be completed. But these aren’t success stories when Bob Peliza Mews was in their 2015 manifesto (10 years ago) and their promise was for completion in 2019 – 6 years ago. There will be families whose children are now at university – 10 years later – who still haven’t enjoyed the promised housing and whose housing needs have now changed. They have failed all these families.

Soon enough there will be an opportunity to change the Government again. We promise to be a radical reforming administration that will undertake big changes to deliver real accountability with your money; govern with humility not arrogance; deliver for all people not just the privileged few and make sure people are not left behind in terms of housing, health, employment or care.

We will continue our work for you from the Opposition in the meantime and wish you and your families a happy Christmas and peaceful festivities.